| PowerNerd | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 25, 2024 | |||
| Studio |
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| Genre | Progressive metal | |||
| Length | 44:04 | |||
| Label |
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| Producer | Devin Townsend | |||
| Devin Townsend chronology | ||||
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| Singles from PowerNerd | ||||
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PowerNerd is the twenty-second studio album by Canadian metal musician Devin Townsend. It was released on October 25, 2024, through Inside Out Music and HevyDevy Records. [1]
About the album's title, Devin Townsend commented "I would say that a powernerd would be somebody that has a tendency that society has deemed weak or not valuable, whether that's empathy or being an insular person or an introvert, and turns that into a type of personal power." [2] Townsend reportedly gave himself only 11 days to write the entire album, and 1 day to rehearse it. [3] [4] [5]
According to Townsend, of all the albums he's ever made, PowerNerd was "[the] most fraught with unexpected sidelines": [6] The album was originally meant to feature Eloy Casagrande on drums, Mike Inez on bass, and Wes Hauch on guitar; unfortunately, by the time of recording, Casagrande had joined Slipknot, Inez began touring with Elton John, and Hauch went on tour with Alluvial. [6] Additionally, Townsend was hoping to outsource mixing the album, but that fell through due to scheduling issues as well. [6] Drums for the album were ultimately done by Darby Todd, who learned all the drum parts in a single day and recorded them in the following two days. [7]
The album has been described as progressive metal. [8] [9] Some critics noted that the album had a simpler, more accessible sound compared to Townsend's previous albums. [10]
PowerNerd received positive reviews from music critics upon release. Jordan Blum, writing for Metal Injection , gave the album a score of 9/10 and wrote "Without a doubt, Townsend still gets tons of mileage out of the uniquely philosophical and musical worlds he's crafted, making PowerNerd another superbly entertaining and intellectually, emotionally fulfilling addition to his catalog." [3] Kerrang! awarded it a score of 3/5 and stated "If you’re looking for divisive, multi-toned prog metal you’ll find little of that here – closer Ruby Quaker has a tongue-in-cheek blast therein – but should you appreciate the less eccentric side of this polymath’s output, plug in and power up." [10]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "PowerNerd" | 3:28 |
| 2. | "Falling Apart" | 4:23 |
| 3. | "Knuckledragger" | 4:30 |
| 4. | "Gratitude" | 3:29 |
| 5. | "Dreams of Light" | 0:54 |
| 6. | "Ubelia" | 3:58 |
| 7. | "Jainism" | 4:16 |
| 8. | "Younger Lover" | 4:09 |
| 9. | "Glacier" | 4:22 |
| 10. | "Goodbye" | 5:58 |
| 11. | "Ruby Quaker" | 4:32 |
| Total length: | 44:04 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 12. | "Flow" (Demo) | 8:02 |
| 13. | "Trustfxxx" (Demo) | 8:17 |
| 14. | "Vast" (Demo) | 9:44 |
| Total length: | 70:07 | |
Musicians
Technical
Visuals
| Chart (2024) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [11] | 33 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [12] | 187 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [13] | 57 |
| Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [14] | 15 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [15] | 32 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC) [16] | 28 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [17] | 18 |
| UK Album Downloads (OCC) [18] | 21 |
| UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC) [19] | 4 |
